Dog Grooming Supplies and Tips

Happy and Healthy Dogs

All of us appreciate our dogs and the companionship they give us, and we like to repay them by helping them to be happy and healthy. One of my favorite ways to do that is by using dog grooming supplies to help our dogs be comfortable and look good as well.

Dog owners must understand that dogs have different coats, and so must be groomed according for best effect, and we must be careful in certain types of dogs not to harm them, as certain actions could do that.

Let's first look at the different types of dog coats and the best way to take care of them.

Dogs with smooth coats

At first glance it may seem that dogs with smoother coats like Dobermans and Labs would be easier to maintain, and in some ways they are, but as with everyone, their types of coats have their strong points and weak points.

Even though you don't have to brush them as often, they do shed a lot, as smooth coat dog owners know. So about once a week is good to brush them, along with giving them an occasional shampoo help them with problems related to insects which harm their skin.

Taking care of our best friends ...

Dog grooming supplies

Just as there are a lot of differences in the coats of dogs, there are also many differences in the types of dog grooming supplies you use to take care of them.

One handy grooming brush is the bristle brush, which is considered a good all-purpose brush for most dogs. It can have bristles made of either natural materials or nylon, or a combination of both. The most used is the one that includes both, as it's usually relatively inexpensive, and can groom most dog coats; whether they're short, dense, thick, curly, long or silky.

For longer haired dog breeds as the Shih Tzu and Afghan, a better choice is the pin brush. This is also a better brush for breeds like the Old English Sheepdog, which are double-coated.

Dog breeds with stiff hairs like terriers respond better to a pin palm brush, which includes little rounded tip to keep the coats from being damaged.

Slicker Brush

Another brush used a lot is the slicker brush. This has teeth that are bent-wire and set close together. These styles work better with dead hair and matting. A slicker brush is used to remove huge amounts of the hair in order to reduce shedding. If you're showing your dog, this isn't the brush to use for obvious reasons.

Rubber brushes

Rubber brushes are much more flexible, and include rounded ends on soft, short bristles. These help dogs with smooth coats to give them a nice sheen and to get rid of dead hair without harming their skin.

Dog Combs and Stripping

Combs

Similar to brushes, dog grooming combs come in a plethora of styles and sizes. Spacing and lengths of the teeth of the comb are different too.

As a rule of thumb, dogs with thin, soft or silky hair are better combed with a finer-toothed comb. Breed with medium hair textures are recommended to be combed with a medium textured comb, while heavy-coated or dense-coated dogs are better combed with coarse teeth.

Concerning the length of the teeth of the comb, it should be decided on by how deeply the teeth need to go to reach the skin.

While there really isn't much advantage to a comb whether it has a handle or not (personal preference and comfort) it does matter to what they are made of. The best dog grooming combs include rounded tips so it won't do any damage and cause irritation to the dog's skin. The better ones will be spring-tempered and made of either stainless steel or solid chrome-plated brass.

Stripping Tools

How to strip a dog is a somewhat controversial topic, as there are those that are casual about it and those that are purists, who say there is only one way to strip a dog.

Stripping a dog mean you're removing the dead hair via a specific method. According to the purists, this the only method that can be considered stripping is by removing the dead hair by their finger and thumb. Stripping tools in these cases are only used to fine tune the almost-completed job.

Stripping is used on show dogs with harsh costs like terriers.

Clipping doesn't work well because it can cause the hair to fade in color through softening the coat's texture.

Quality and well-done stripping is worked on over a period of weeks, with the time frame determined by the climate the dog lives in, the texture of the coat and the patter of growth.

There are other considerations in relationship to stripping, and you need to know what you're doing to get it right.

Dog grooming supplies and tips

Other dog grooming needs

A couple of other important dog grooming needs are brushing a dog's teeth and clipping his nails.

Brushing of teeth may probably be the most neglected dog grooming practice, as it's probably the most difficult to perform, if done at all.

You can make a toothbrush for your dog and use dog toothpaste to do the shop if your pooch will let you.

Another difficult task with some dogs is trimming their nails. Some will let you do it and others, like a child seeing the needle before getting a shot, will howl upon getting a glimpse of the nail trimmer.

Even so, it's important to at least check their nails out periodically, and make sure they're growing correctly.

Comments

No HTML is allowed in comments, but URLs will be hyperlinked. Comments are not for promoting your articles or other sites.

sending

tpboi

6 years ago

hi thanks for the article, i was wondering if you shave your dog on your own, i have been doing some research and stumble upon this site http://thebestdogclippers.com , it says we should buy high end clippers made by andis or oster instead of other low end brand, what is your take on this? thanks a lot!

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

This is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)

Google AdSense Host API

This service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)

This is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)

Facebook Login

You can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)

Maven

This supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)

We may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.

Conversion Tracking Pixels

We may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.

Statistics

Author Google Analytics

This is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)

Comscore

ComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)

Amazon Tracking Pixel

Some articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)